By Sarah Calams
PAYNESVILLE, Minn. — Is your department struggling to recruit and retain officers? A small department in Minnesota is having a similar issue, but a newly introduced benefit hopes to keep its officers serving and protecting its 2,500 residents.
The Paynesville Police Department currently has four officers to protect its residents, FOX9.com reported. But a small town doesn’t always mean small crime, and Paynesville Police Chief Paul Wegner said he notices officers start to struggle with their mental health between year three and five.
[READ: Why LEOs with 5-10 years of service may be at great risk for adverse mental health]
“They’ve been in long enough, they’ve seen enough, they’ve dealt with enough … and now they’re starting to experience some of that stress,” Wegner said.
To protect officers’ mental health, the department is now offering a one-month paid sabbatical for officers who have been with the department for at least five years. Upon their chosen leave time, qualifying officers will turn in their work phone, emails will be diverted and they will not be allowed to enter the department.
“The more I researched it, the more I found that companies would see better production from their staff,” Wegner continued. “It decreased the errors and mistakes that were being made because they were more focused on what needed to be done and ultimately their job performance improved and increased.”
Wegner said he hopes to repeat the sabbatical for officers every three to four years, according to the report.